Nabokov: Literary Hitchcock
Excerpt from King, Queen, Knave : The other day as they were having ice chocolate there, Martha counted at least three foreigners among the crowd. One, judging by his newspaper, was a Dane. The other two were a less easily determinable pair: the girl was trying in vain to attract the attention of the café cat, a small black animal sitting on a chair and licking one hind paw rigidly raised like a shouldered club. Her companion, a suntanned fellow, smoked and smiled. What language were they speaking? Polish? Esthonian? Leaning near them against the wall was some kind of net: a bag of pale-bluish gauze on a ring fixed to a rod of light metal. "Shrimp catchers," said Martha. "I want shrimps for dinner tonight." (She clicked her front teeth." "No," said Franz. "That's not a fisherman's net. That's for catching mosquitoes." "Butterflies," said Dreyer, lifting an index finger. "Who wants to
